Five Deficits, Nineteen Goals, and a Halloween Shootout: Inside UConn’s Chaotic Weekend Split-Tie with Merrimack

By: J.J. Pavlick | Detroit, MI | October 31, 2026 |

The No. 17 Huskies proved their power play is lethal and their resolve is unbreakable, but a wild series in North Andover exposed severe even-strength questions that coach Mike Cavanaugh must answer.

NORTH ANDOVER, MA- If you want to understand the beautiful, deeply unpredictable, and often agonizing reality of Hockey East, look no further than J. Thom Lawler Rink this past weekend. Over 125 minutes of hockey between No. 17 UConn and No. 16 Merrimack, systems didn’t just break down; they were completely incinerated.

Nineteen goals. A Friday night defensive collapse. A Saturday evening Halloween thriller featuring five separate comeback efforts and, finally, a freshman goaltender holding the line in a shootout to salvage a massive extra point on the road.

When the dot settled on Saturday night, UConn left North Andover with a 5-4 regulation loss and a 5-5 tie (accompanied by a 2-1 shootout victory). It was a weekend that highlighted the absolute best of the Huskies’ offensive depth and special teams precision, while simultaneously exposing structural vulnerabilities at 5v5 that will dictate their ceiling this winter.

Friday Night: Special Teams Surge Eclipsed by 5v5 Breakdowns

On Friday, UConn’s power play looked like an elite unit. The Huskies went a perfect 2-for-2 on the man advantage, using crisp puck movement to slice through the Warriors’ penalty kill.

Just 2:28 into the opening frame, Joey Muldowney threaded a pass to freshman Ethan Gardula, who blasted a one-timer past Linards Feldbergs for his third goal of the year. After Merrimack responded, the Huskies replicated the script in the second period: Jeremy Loranger fired another power-play one-timer home to give UConn a temporary 3-2 lead.

Friday Power Play Efficiency:
UConn:      ████████████████ 100% (2/2)
Merrimack:  ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 0%   (0/4)

Yet, despite winning the special teams battle decisively—UConn’s penalty kill simultaneously neutralized all four of Merrimack’s power plays—the Huskies couldn’t sustain structure at even strength. Merrimack routinely won the possession and physical battles, outshooting UConn 32-23 and dominating the dot with a 39-25 faceoff margin.

Every time UConn grabbed momentum, defensive-zone turnovers and failed clearances bit them back. Mike Murtagh gave UConn a 4-3 lead early in the third with a brilliant wraparound goal, but the lead lasted just over three minutes before Ty Daneault equalized for the Warriors via a deflection off a defenseman’s skate.

The backbreaker came with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Trapped in their own zone, the Huskies failed to pressure the blue line, allowing Merrimack’s David Green to unleash a shot that beat Kam Hendrickson cleanly. It was Green’s second goal of the night, securing a 5-4 victory for the Warriors and leaving UConn empty-handed despite a stellar offensive output.

Saturday Night: The Halloween Resurrection

If Friday night was a lesson in frustration, Saturday afternoon was a masterclass in psychological resilience. Cavanaugh opted for a goaltending change, giving freshman Veeti Louhivaara the nod. What followed was a game that felt less like a tactical chess match and more like a heavyweight prize fight.

Five times Merrimack took the lead. Five times UConn refused to die.

The Warriors struck just 67 seconds into the contest when Nick Pierre pounced on a breakaway. UConn answered quickly via Carter Sproule. Pierre struck again early in the second to put Merrimack up 3-1, but Muldowney brought UConn within one on an analytical beauty, burying a rebound right on the doorstep on the power play.

Pierre completed his hat trick just a minute and a half later, extending Merrimack’s lead to 4-2. UConn didn’t blink. Colin Frank trimmed the lead to 4-3, and with less than a minute remaining in the second period, the Huskies capitalized on a 5-on-3 opportunity. Ethan Whitcomb ripped a textbook one-timer from the circle to knot the game at 4-4 heading into the final intermission.

Saturday Deficit Tracker & Responses:
1. MC 1-0 -> Sproule Goal (1-1)
2. MC 2-1 -> Muldowney Goal (PP, 3-2)
3. MC 3-1 -> Frank Goal (4-3)
4. MC 4-2 -> Whitcomb Goal (5-4 PP)
5. MC 5-4 -> Allain-Samake (6-on-5 EA)

The peak drama arrived late in the third. Merrimack’s Caden Cranston made it 5-4 with nine minutes left. Facing their final death sentence of the weekend, Cavanaugh pulled Louhivaara for the extra attacker with over two minutes remaining. The gamble paid off with structural perfection: Murtagh fought through contact below the goal line, spinning a pass back to Anthony Allain-Samake at the point. The defenseman unleashed a rocket through traffic, tying the game at 5-5 with just 1:26 on the clock.

After a scoreless, frantic 3-on-3 overtime period where Louhivaara made key stops, the game moved to a shootout to decide the extra Hockey East point. Loranger scored in the opening frames, and Whitcomb sealed it with a filthy deke, while Louhivaara stopped three of four Merrimack shooters to trigger a bench-clearing celebration.

The Analytical Takeaway: Firepower vs. Fragility

To look at this series through the lens of a championship contender, you have to weigh two contrasting truths about this UConn roster.

1. The Power Play is an Absolute Weapon

UConn finished the weekend an astonishing 4-for-6 (66.7%) on the man advantage. They are establishing zone entries with ease, and the pairing of Muldowney and Loranger as distributors is creating massive spaces for shooters like Gardula and Whitcomb. If their special teams remain this lethal, they will stay in every single Hockey East game, regardless of the opponent.

2. The 5v5 Defensive Shell is Fractured

Giving up 10 goals over two nights is an unsustainable formula for November and December hockey. UConn’s defensemen struggled beneath their own goal line all weekend, failing to clear pucks under heavy forechecks and leaving both Hendrickson and Louhivaara completely exposed to high-danger odd-man rushes. The loss of possession metrics on Friday (outshot 32-23) tells the story of a team playing too much defense in its own end.

Room for Optimism

The real victory of the weekend isn’t found in the stat sheet but in the identity of this young squad. Going down by multiple goals on the road on back-to-back nights against a ranked opponent can easily break a team’s spirit. Instead, the Huskies showed a terrifying, relentless refusal to yield. Freshmen like Cole Davis, Colin Frank, and Ethan Gardula didn’t look like rookies trying to find their footing; they looked like core pieces driving the play.

Louhivaara’s poise under pressure on Saturday—stopping 28 shots through regulation and overtime before slamming the door in the shootout—suggests that UConn has a legitimate, elite internal goaltending battle brewing that will only elevate both netminders.

Up Next: No Rest for the Weary

There is no time for Cavanaugh to reconstruct his defensive zone schemes in a vacuum. The Huskies face another brutal Hockey East test on Thursday, November 5, when they travel to Providence College to battle the Friars. If UConn can tighten the screws at even strength while keeping their power-play engine humming, this chaotic weekend in North Andover might just be remembered as the crucible that forged their identity.